Sunday, May 31, 2015

The mass university is good for equity, but must it also be bad for learning?

Hannah Forsyth, Australian Catholic University
When universities began expanding, they became more inclusive. While this is a good thing, scholars often look at their large class sizes and lament that many of the students won’t set foot in the lecture theatres or libraries thanks to technology, and grow increasingly frustrated at the shallow assignment responses.

They ask: whatever happened to learning? Is there still a place for old-style, face-to-face education, good clear thinking and real, tangible books?

Students: responsible for their own learning?

Professor of philosophy David Armstrong fondly observed what he thought was the best part of learning from his academic career that spanned the 1950s to the 1990s:

I like for the Faculty of Arts the idea that you sit around for a long time discussing things in coffee shops and pubs and quadrangles and anywhere else that you can get some seating and, finally, towards the end of the year you’ve got to get some work done […] That’s a good way, I think, to conduct an Arts education; students educate each other in the course of this.

This description was familiar to me, for it resembled Sydney University’s key approach when I studied there in the 1990s. Perhaps it still does. The idea was that “good” students in the vicinity of a good library would largely educate themselves.

It wasn’t bad, in a way. Students were immersed in a strange, alien and exciting intellectual environment. They were in classrooms with others like themselves. They were exposed (in an often-distant way) to heroes of their disciplines. With plenty of time for sitting around in quadrangles and coffee shops, they had well-developed ideas that ended up, sometimes, in their essays and exams.

Cluttering scholarly thinking

As it was for Armstrong, this is the approach to learning that attracts the most nostalgia, perhaps especially among academics. For scholars, I suspect such nostalgia reflects a yearning to make ideas the centre of our work, a wish to de-clutter our thinking from the largely meaningless bureaucratic tasks that often dominate the day. These cluttered lives make for frustratingly shallow thinking – which we observe in our students all the time. We are forced at times also to see it in ourselves.

This cluttering of academic life has clearly spread to students. Corridor discussions among scholars express frustration with the thinking of students more concerned with the time spent in paid work than in quadrangles discussing ideas.

Across the mass university there seems to be a steep decline in opportunities for face-to-face learning, for peer-to-peer discussion or to wander through libraries stumbling across interesting and stimulating ideas.

De-personalised learning

What does the future hold? Will students in the ever-growing university ever even see one another? Will they just sit at home on their laptops reading the snippets of eBooks allocated by lecturers they mostly know only by their email address?

Who will they talk about ideas to? Their parents? They certainly show fewer signs of being able to leave home.

And yet their ever-growing focus on paid work is necessary, even if it is primarily just to keep up with the minimum technologies young people need to be able to take their place in society, for who can have friends these days, let alone study or work, without a mobile phone and good WiFi?

Ebooks and online technologies are essential to a mass university system.Daniel Sancho/Flickr, CC BY
These pressures on the experience of student learning in the mass university clearly have multiple sources. But our dystopian fears may be overstated. Many aspects of online education are excellent.
Imagine if we still had students parading through current serials sections of libraries to photocopy this week’s readings? Or worse, as was the case before photocopiers, all reading the same copy?

Does eLearning empower students and save scholarly labour?

Online teaching and learning are not necessarily isolating activities. Facebook alone shows us that. Of course good teaching matters online as it does everywhere else: any course is alienating and confusing with the wrong teacher, even on campus. Sadly, we have far too few teachers dedicated to their students’ learning in classrooms both online and on campus, in part because the cluttered life of the scholar makes good teaching difficult.

Will we end up just trying to keep students at wifi-length, just to try to make a little more time for scholarship?

What about students’ relationships to one another, the idea that bringing them together on a campus offers them a place in which to make their worlds bigger? Will they still have opportunity to educate one another? Will the days of quadrangles and coffee shops and sharing ideas really pass away?

Designers of flexible learning spaces and campus cafes have been thinking about this for some time, as have the architects of new libraries. As is often the case in the mass university, managers seem to believe that institutional planning alone can make student learning happen, even informally. They seem to forget that it was actually the students, not the cafes and quadrangles, that were doing the work.

It’s not campus design that does the work, students interacting with each other brings about new ideas and thoughts.Saint Louis University/Flickr, CC BY
And they almost entirely overlook the reality that the learning that Armstrong idealised relied on students possessing a whole lot of skills that were likely derived from their class and, certainly in Sydney, also often their ethnic background.

This is not news. Educationalists worldwide since the 1970s have observed that the characteristics of educational success are closely linked to class status.
To use my own discipline, it is evident that students who grew up with books on the shelf in English, which they were likely to discuss over dinner, have skills that push them further ahead as historians than students who did not.

Their parents’ own educational background also assists them in navigating educational institutions. Those of us who teach non-traditional students often end up frustrated that they have just not understood the task; this is far less likely to be a problem where educational norms permeated a childhood.

The mass university needs now to support students more actively. It means doing more than just putting smart students within reach of a good library and letting them educate one another.

The mass university offers new opportunities for more inclusive learning

Despite our dystopian suspicions, the mass university, as it continues to grow, offers great hope. Our students, coming as they do from wider backgrounds, bring new knowledge and skills into our classrooms. These are skills we’ve never before been able to integrate into curricula and subjects.
If we can teach them well – in an inclusive manner that draws out and values these skills as innovations in our fields – we will make knowledge in our universities bigger and better.
Nostalgia for a form of education designed for white middle-class students will not achieve this. But attention to the privileged task of teaching in the mass university just might.The Conversation is running a series on “What are universities for?” looking at the place of universities in Australia, why they exist, who they serve, and how this is changing over time. Read other articles in the series here.Hannah Forsyth is Lecturer in History at Australian Catholic University.
This article was originally published on The Conversation.
Read the original article.
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Remember the droning lecture in Ferris Bueller's Day Off ("Anyone? … Anyone?")? The scene maybe exaggerated but I think quite typical in most classroom. The sage on stage scenario is, by and large, still prevalent. Lectures are not necessarily bad; in fact in some cases lectures are appropriate and relevant. However, in the traditional classroom, class periods are too short (typically 50 minutes) and usually the focus or the tendency is giving content to the students. There is not enough time for questioning and reflecting, interaction and discussion, and less opportunity for active learning.

Would it more meaningful if the constructivist approach could be realized to help students construct their own learning? Is it possible to design the learning activity during the class period in such a way to engage students to be more participative and more active? It seems to me that it is possible to accomplish these with the so-called ‘flipped classroom’ approach.

Flipped classroom has been a buzzword in the world of academia and enthusiastic educators have been exploring and experimenting with it using different approaches. The basic approach, however, hinges on providing the content (learning resources) online (in learning management system or other learning platforms), hoping that the students will study the material prior coming to the class. The classroom time, therefore, can be used to engage students in more meaningful discussion, group work, problem solving, reflection and other activities that require students to think, collaborate and reflect.

How effective and successful is flipped classroom approach? Well, it depends very much on careful planning, design and delivery. The model that I’m currently using is shown in the diagram below. First, contents are developed and then uploaded to the learning platform. Content can be original (developed by the subject matter expert) or from the existing resources available in the internet. I use multiple free platforms to store my content such as YouTube, Vimeo, Slideshare, Scribd, Storify, Pinterest, Scoop it!, etc. All the contents are aggregated in the form of lesson plan on the learning platform. In my case I’m using Schoology (the social learning platform I’m using this semester — previously I used Edmodo).

The flipped classroom model with social media as one of the communication channels

Content can be provided in multiple formats and multiple platforms.

It is important that students are briefed in the first week of the semester about the flipped classroom implementation — the WHAT, WHY and HOW. The next question is, how do we engage the students with the online content before they come to class? This is where the role of social media comes in handy.

I have tried Twitter in my classroom as backchannel (picture below) as well as to engage students in discussion. I think it has been quite successful. This semester I thought I want to try something different…hmm…maybe I should try Whatsapp…or Wechat, or Telegram. I did a quick poll in Schoology (the social learning platform I’m using this semester — previously I used Edmodo) and discovered that most students are using WhatsApp. So I asked the students to set up the group for the course.

Students tweet using a hashtag created for the course

The original idea was to use WhatsApp as a quick communication channel, for example announcement about impending assignment, or even last minute class cancellation. Later, however, I realized that I could use WhatsApp to deliver chunk or byte-size (or bite-size) information (course content) to the students to support my flipped classroom. The content can be a small piece of information (facts, explanation of concept, definition, etc.), image, audio or video. The resources will be delivered via WhatsApp before the class and students are requested to view or study the materials beforehand. The class time then can be used to engage the students in discussion and to probe the topic further for better understanding. That’s the essence of flipped classroom. It’s easier said than done, though…

What is the motivation to adopt flipped classroom approach? Many studies have shown that people simply can’t pay attention and retain information over long periods of time. I read a recent research somewhere that the attention span of Gen Y is less than 3 minutes! If that is the case, it makes sense then to deliver the content in a way that a student would have to engage no more than 3 minutes — hence the idea of chunking or bite-size learning.

Many studies have shown that people simply can’t pay attention and retain information over long periods of time. I read a recent research somewhere that the attention span of Gen Y is less than 3 minutes!

The concept of bite-sized learning is very well established but I think not widely exploited. It is very simple but I personally believe that it makes a lot of sense. Bite-sized learning basically delivers course material into very small chunks, interspersed with activities such as short quizzes or questions for reflection and discussion. This has been a popular approach with the proliferation of mobile learning that leverages the convenience of mobile devices and trends in learning-on-demand. Bite-sized learning has many names: byte-size, snack learning, learning nugget, etc.

I like the idea of chunking content to make learning more efficient, interesting and fun. It's like giving content in small, manageable doses, timed at appropriate interval and frequency. So here’s my attempt to combine my flipped classroom with mobile learning. The plan is simple: prepare the learning nuggets using web-based applications or my iPad and deliver the nuggest via WhatsApp. Simple enough, right? The nuggets will also be incorporated as part of lesson plan in Schoology.

The video below is an example of short presentation (3.33 minutes) to explain a small part of a topic. It was prepared using a free iPad app called Touchcast.

A brief presentation just to give the essence of the topic.

The video above basically delivers content. The video below (2.36 min), however, delivers a little content plus something for students to THINK about.

Another popular form of learning nugget is a podcast. A podcast is simply an audio typically in MP3 format. There are many free web-based applications as well as iOS/Androids apps one can use to produce a podcast. My favorite is an iPad app called SoundCloud. Here’s one example of a podcast:

A podcast (MP3 audio) is very easy to prepare on the fly.

Once the learning nuggets are ready it is just a matter of delivering the links through WhatsApp, as shown in the example below.

Delivering learning nuggets using WhatsApp

The learning nuggets can be incorporated as part of the lesson plan on Schoology (or whatever learning platform you use), as shown below.

A lesson plan for the whole semester will allow students to pace their own learning.

The scheme should work very well with properly planned flipped classroom strategy. Since students are expected engage with the content prior coming to the classroom, the class time can be used for activity such as discussion, questioning, reflection, etc.

For example, to check whether students have studied the material, I use Socrative application in the class. Questions are prepared beforehand and during the class I just simply launch the application and students will receive the question (one by one) on their smartphone. The responses are displayed on the screen. This activity is particularly useful as a formative assessment to check for understanding or misconception. Anything less than 50% correct response would indicate lack of understanding and this calls for more attention and discussion.

Engaging students in the classroom with Socrative to check their understanding

Apart from using Socrative for classroom activity, students are also
required to do the quiz before coming to the class. A separate set of
questions is prepared, set as ‘Student-Paced, immediate feedback’. The
questions are designed as such to engage students with the topic to be
covered in the next class. Students will receive immediate feedback for
each question they have answered. One example of such question and
feedback is shown below.

Quiz with feedback allows students to learn independently

Here’s another example of typical activity in my classroom. It is not
always a full blown problem-based learning but even a simple case study
or simple problem is sufficient to get the students to work and
collaborate together and demonstrate their understanding of the topic
(content). In the picture shown below, no sophisticated technology was
used — just a cheap mahjong paper and marker pens.

Another important aspect to consider is reflection — i.e., to encourage students to reflect on what they have learned in the class. For example, after the activity shown in the video above, I asked the students to summarize and reflect what they have learned in the activity using a free web-based application, Padlet. This activity allows students to think more deeply and encourage them to construct their own meaning while trying to make some sense of what they have done and put it in the proper context. This exercise is also part of the strategy to get students to create their own content — what is termed as 'user generated content'. The picture below shows one example from one of the group.

Example of summary/reflection of classroom activity using web-based tool called Padlet.

Usually I also provide a summary of material covered in each class. For this purpose, I use an application called Evernote. I prepare the summary in Evernote and share the link via WhatsApp, as shown below. (Note: Evernote is available as an iOS and Android app, as well as downloadable application on PC or Mac. In addition, the web-based application is also available. The notes are sync automatically across all platforms and devices).

Summary of material discussed in the class prepared in Evernote and delivered via WhatsApp

This flipped classroom model I’m using
leverages the power of mobile devices, communication apps such as
WhatsApp and the simplicity of tablet such as ipad as well as free
web-based tools to prepare content in the form of bite-sized learning
nuggets. What I like most about this model is the fact that students can
pace their own learning to suit their needs. This is basically utilizing the concept of learning-on-demand — just in case, just in
time, just enough, and just for me. In fact, some students can study the
content of the course for the whole semester if they wish.

Overall, I believe the model of flipped classroom that I’m using is effective although I don’t have any research evidence to support. There is a growing evidence from some research reports, however, indicating the positive impact of flipped classroom on learning gain. I would strongly encourage that all educators to start exploring flipped classroom, starting with a few lecture slots.

Synopsis:
What is your vision for the future of learning? Do we share a common vision? Do you have to gaze into a crystal ball to look at what the future of learning looks like? Well, not exactly. The future is already here, at our doorstep. Globalization, the digital revolution, and advancements in our understanding of brain-based learning all present new opportunities and challenges for today’s educators. Education technology, social media, neurocognitive approach to learning, collaborative and connected learning and the rise of well connected society is transforming the established concept of learning, teachers’ roles and even the nature of knowledge itself. A radical and dynamic shift in mindset is critically needed to create profound, systemic change in our education. Indeed, we now have a legitimate opportunity, not just to reform the education system as has been attempted for decades, but to fundamentally transform it.

This presentation will examine some significant disruptive forces and trends that will reshape learning over the next decade. Responding to them with creativity rather than fear will be critical to preparing all learners for an uncertain future.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

This is my first open online course and I chose to offer the course on something that I strongly advocate — flipped classroom. I have started using flipped classroom approach in small scale last year and next semester I plan to dive more into this.

I would like to invite readers of my blog to join the course and learn more about flipped classroom.

Sunday, July 6, 2014

As part of my mission to spread the words about online learning, I have prepared this presentation simply titled 'Spreading Knowledge'. Some of the slides were prepared in PowerPoint and then imported (as images) into Haiku Deck. Haiku Deck is a new kid on the block for presentation application. Note that most slides have accompanying notes. The notes appear next to each slide but you need to view using a browser on a laptop. The storyline is about stepping out from the physical boundary of our classroom to reach out global learners.

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Have you been in a classroom where you can feel the energy and the excitement to participate in the activities and discussion? Well, how many teachers or educators can step into a classroom and ‘energise’ the students to that excitement level? Not many, I guess. I have tried but sometimes fail to maintain dynamic environment throughout the semester. However, I was lucky enough recently to be a student, albeit for a brief moment, to Dr Raihanah, the spirited, energetic and dynamic educator from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Lucky UKM to have such a great talent!
I have the privileged to have Dr Raihanah as a guest writer on this blog. Let’s hear now from Dr Raihanah about what’s inspired her to be a lifelong learner, or as she put it, a student of YouTube classroom. Read on…

Hi. My name is Raihanah and I’m a student of the YouTube classroom.
Like my daughter’s generation, I am constantly exposed to new knowledge the minute I get online. The strength of my ‘curriculum’ lies in the strength of my passion for learning that particular day. It could be a 10-15-minute talk which I stumble upon as I scan the YouTube “What to watch” recommendation page; or a slightly longer video I search out for and enjoy over lunch in my office based on my favourite speakers like Ken Robinson, Brene Brown, Tariq Ramadan or Nouman Ali Khan, to name but a few. The topic may range from personal to professional, from spiritual to academic. Yet the goal is one: let’s learn something new today, and let’s make the learning count.

I identify my interest, areas of concern and scope as an adult, a mom, a teacher, a researcher and a spiritual being, and I tap into that particular area for the day. This is my roadmap for “meaningful learning.”

David Ausubel in the 1960s talked about meaningful learning and rote learning. The essence of the two lies in the distinction one makes between learning new knowledge and previous knowledge. With the former, new knowledge is built based on previous knowledge, with the latter, i.e. rote learning, the new and old knowledge do not seem to meet.

As an individual, my choices of learning are inclined towards meaningful learning not because I have an exam to pass, rather by my need to build on my current schema of ‘things I know, about things I like’. I want to build my own reservoir of knowledge based on the things I am passionate about.

I see the same passion in my 10-year old. She is not keen on knowledge as prescribed by the school curriculum, rather she is interested in developing knowledge and skills that excites her. Like how to do a hand stand and a middle split.

This was brought on after a trip to Beijing last November in which we saw professional acrobats perform such wonderful contortions of their limbs you’d think they’re made of rubber. It took her a month of viewing online videos and practicing on her own, but she mastered both skills.

She was also very keen to find out about asthma when she suffered from a nasty case of bronchitis recently. I see her searching out various YouTube videos about it, watching others talking about asthma, and how they learnt to live fulfilling and active lives despite their illness. It’s truly empowering when you think about it.

This is what I think lifelong learning in the 21st century has become. Unlike the convention, where a teacher sets the parameters of learning and the students are taken through the programme, with the current Gen-Y the individual sets her own learning objectives and priorities based on her interests and seeks out the sources of knowledge, in essence becoming their own teacher. The mastery of this 'self-teaching mind-set' is what lifelong learning has evolved into.

My parting thoughts: as a lifelong learner, I am thankful for the learning opportunities I have today. The knowledge shared in the thousands of videos on YouTube and other online resources like the TED talk engage and challenge us to develop meaningful learning. The opportunities are immense and the benefits to be reaped are equally large. Yet all that remains is for each of us to set goals of learning for ourselves and begin our journey. What do you want to learn today?

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Raihanah M.M. is a lecturer of literary studies in UKM. Her areas of interest include travelling, reading and writing. She lives in USJ with her husband, daughter and pet cavy. She can be contacted at Raihanah.Mydin@gmail.com
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Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Click image to open interactive version (via Penny Stocks Lab).
I stumbled upon this website via Jane's Hart website. It shows a real-time statistics of the volume of data generated. It's amazing! It is obvious that we, the 21st century educators, develop the crucial skill to search, evaluate, filter, organize and make sense of the information. This is basically what has been discussed on the topic of content curation and personal knowledge management (PKM). I have developed my own PKM and it is very similar to what Jane Hart described in her article 'My daily PKM routine (practices and toolset)'.

Have a look at the presentation below by Harold Jarche, 'Sense-Making and Knowledge-Sharing' to learn more about personal knowledge management.

6. Engaging students through discussion — they become committed and invested time — structured internal thoughts and vocalized them.

7. In a group discussion, it's not so much about getting the right answer but more importantly is the process of getting the right answer — to appreciate that there are many paths we can explore to get the right answer. The process will provoke and invoke deep thinking process, students learn to respect views of others, how to agree to agree, or agree to disagree.

8. Learn more about peer instruction. Prof Eric Mazur from Havard is a strong proponent of this approach.

9. Peer instruction is about getting students to teach each other. 'The best way to learn is to teach' and 'To teach is to learn twice'. This would promote deep understanding and improve retention.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Promote and participate in Open Education Week 2014.

"Open Education Week is a celebration of the global Open Education Movement. Its purpose is to raise awareness about the movement and its impact on teaching and learning worldwide. Participation in all events and use of all resources are free and open to everyone" (excerpt from the website).Read more...Tweet

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Prologue

For those who have been following trends in higher education, the term MOOCs (pronunciation: muk) is not foreign anymore but for some people it is still kind of clouded in mystery. A simple google search using ‘MOOC’ as a keyword turned up 2.4 million hits and when searched using the full acronym ‘Massive Open Online Courses’ it gave a massive 24 million hits! Mind-boggling indeed! If the number of hits can be used as a simple measure of popularity then perhaps we can surmise that MOOCs is a phenomenon that have a potential to disrupt the education world and will bring about significant impact on achieving “Education for All” movement of the United Nation. This article is my attempt to deciphering and demystifying MOOCs. Note that this is my personal view on MOOCs (not that of USM or CDAE) and I must say that I’m inclined towards supporting it because I liked its underlying philosophy. That said, I'm not a MOOCs cheerleader or its fan boy — I keep an open mind on this evolving phenomenon — but yes, I'm a MOOC student (albeit a lazy one) and I want MOOCs to stay alive because I'm always hungry to seek new knowledge, freely (or with nominal cost) and at my own pace.

The Trail Blazers — MIT’s OCW and UNESCO’s OERs

Clayton M. Christensen in his book, "The Innovator’s Dilemma" noted that for a long time, innovation-driven transformations have been largely absent or almost non-existent in the education. Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder, also echoed the same concern in the interview with Times magazine back in 2006, he said, “In almost every area of human endeavor, the practice improves over time…that hasn't been the case for teaching”. I agree with both of them on the lack of disruptive or mega innovation in education in general and in higher education in particular. However, there is a wind of change (reminds me of the Scorpion’s song) in recent years because we hear more and more buzzwords such as Web 2.0, social media, OCW, OER, and the latest one, MOOCs. These terms have been the focus of mainstream media on education including educational websites and blogs. It’s a clear sign that the landscape of the open education movement is changing everyday and is gaining strong momentum world over.

MOOCs may not be a real ‘disruptive innovation’ as defined originally by Christensen but some of these innovations are real game changer in higher education. It started back in 2001 when MIT introduced their Open Courseware (OCW) project with the aim of widening access to knowledge and information. The initiative is considered a runaway success because over the past 12 years or so, the project has grown by leaps and bounds — from 50 published courses to over 2,000 and it has been reported that to date, there have been 122 million views by 87 million visitors from nearly every country across the globe. Today there are approximately 281 universities around the world that are part of the OCW Consortium. Two Malaysian universities, UTM and UM have already joined as member of the Consortium (congratulations!) and it is expected that more Malaysian universities will join the bandwagon.

On another front, UNESCO and Commonwealth of Learning (COL) took the OCW initiative further by introducing Open Educational Resources (OER) and together they spur and expedite an international movement in support of OERs. The term Open Educational Resources (OER) was coined at a 2002 UNESCO Forum on the Impact of Open Courseware for Higher Education. In 2012, Paris OER Declaration was formally adopted at the World Open Educational Resources (OER) Congress held at the UNESCO. The Declaration marks a historic moment in the growing movement for Open Educational Resources and calls on governments worldwide to openly license publicly funded educational materials for public use.

MOOCs — New kid on the block

Another phenomenon gathering momentum over the past two years or so is Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs. MOOCs are simply online courses aimed at large-scale participation and open (free) access via internet. They are similar to university courses, but currently do not tend to offer academic credit. The whole idea of MOOCs is to empower interested learners from around the globe who lack access to higher education.

The term MOOCs has increasingly been very popular that even the Oxford dictionary has included it as an entry — defined as “a course of study made available over the Internet without charge to a very large number of people”. MOOCs actually emerged from OCW and OER initiatives and drew on a long and established history of distance learning. In terms of MOOCs and OER, “open” means free to access and use, whereas “open” in open universities means anyone can be a student. The MOOCs, for the first time, created a widespread public awareness of the possible connections between OER and affordable, high quality education.

To MOOCs or not to MOOCs?

Yasser S. Abu-Mostafa, a professor at Caltec and MOOC instructor on Machine Learning made an excellent analysis on the role of MOOCs (see To MOOC or not to MOOC). He quoted there main and interrelated roles:

MOOCs as a mean to reach out global learners, i.e., taking down the physical barrier and open access to the university course beyond the classroom and make it affordable;

MOOCs as a mean to change the format of delivery, i.e., using the flipped classroom model. This would mean shifting from the traditional 50 minutes lecture and allow more time for engaging the students in meaningful discussion in the classroom;

MOOCs as a tool to collect huge data on learning behavior and pattern. This would complement other emerging areas such as learning analytics and adaptive learning, collecting big data for the purpose of designing more effective and adaptive teaching strategies.

As with other new things, MOOCs have their supporters and their skeptics. Anything at the early stage of implementation is expected to have pitfalls and shortcomings. MOOCs is just like a kid learning to ride a bicycle, still trying to do the balancing act. At the moment MOOCs are ridden by some issues that need to be addressed.

Some people are just taken by surprise at the explosion of MOOCs phenomenon and naturally they prefer to sit still and observe. Why all that buzz about MOOCs all of a sudden? It started just a couple of years ago when Stanford professor, Sebastian Thrun, drew 160,000 students from around the globe to his free online course on artificial intelligence, starting a conversation about the coming wave of free online education. But despite claims that free online courses would revolutionize education, the New York Times reported that initial results for large-scale courses are rather disappointing. It was made even more sensational when recently Thrun himself admitted that his company’s (Udacity) products are lousy.

I think it’s not the fault of the MOOCs provider but rather MOOCs have been hyped a lot by the media. Maybe it is too much too call MOOCs as a revolution or even to talk about the prospect of MOOCs to replace a university. After all, there have been online courses and free lectures available on the internet for quite a while.

One of the main issues of contention about MOOCs is the completion rate is rather low (7 to 10%). To the skeptics this is an obvious failure. Flopped! Is it? Let’s look from the positive perspective. Let say only 10% of 50,000 learners in a course I'm currently following (on critical thinking offered by Duke University) complete the course, that's still 5,000 successful learners! By comparison, I teach 3 courses in one academic session, let say 200 students in total. It will take me approximately 25 years to teach 5,000 students! Those 7 to 10% ‘loyal’ students that successfully completed the MOOCs are those who really wanted to learn. The thing is, people will learn if they are MOTIVATED to learn. They must have reason to learn the subject/topic. Isn’t that the principle of adult learners? Let me quote Eric Jensen, "There's no such thing as unmotivated students, but there are students in unmotivated state".

We should not forget the fact that MOOCs are still very much in its infancy. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day. Likewise, the airplane was not invented overnight, but the Wright brothers persisted in developing the flying machines despite repeated failures.

Let me quote Thomas Edison. "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work". In the same breath, MOOCs have not failed but the providers such as Cousera, Edx and others have found 10,000 ways that didn’t work (grossly exaggerated). But if they persevere, just like Thomas Edison did, they might just find the right way to light up the MOOC bulb. Just like the modern civilization benefited from the 10,000 failures of Thomas Edison, the grand children of the sceptics (and the proponents) may one day the beneficiary of MOOC and obtain an accredited degree on, maybe, USMcera platform! I like the idea!

I think the success or failure of MOOCs will very much depend on the application of teaching and learning strategies that are firmly based and anchored on the proven learning theories and practices. This is the area that needs more attention and perhaps very challenging. Many years ago distance learning and online learning were ridiculed as well, and still are in some circles, because of poor instructional design, poor delivery/facilitation and/or poor instructor and learner support not because the technology is bad. Of course it’s easier said than done. One critical area is assessment — how to assess the work of 100,000 online students?

Yes, most of the pedagogy in this first generation of MOOCs is simply the large lecture class delivered online. Well, if only we allow MOOC to grow and learn to walk first… At the moment, we don't really know what the second or third generation of MOOCs might look like, any more than the Wright Brothers or Glenn Curtiss understood how a 747 was going to work. They knew that there was going to be something like that; they just couldn't begin to build it themselves.

Yet sceptics still dismiss MOOC as just another passing trend. They say MOOCs have no sustainable business model, costing lots but earning little. However, I think it's too early to draw definite conclusions. The potential for this model to realize the "education for all" is profound but educators and leaders need to roll up their sleeves and explore more viable formats/structures/programs the enable us to move forward.

I think MOOC is now following Gartner “Hype Cycle” of experimentation, adaptation and adoption. It is now just passing the 'peak of inflated expectations' and going through the 'trough of disillusionment'. MOOC is still traveling on the path of innovation. Maybe what we are seeing now is the end of a beginning.

Time to Reveal the Secret Garden?

For a long time we treat our classroom as our "secret garden". Nobody really knows what's going on in the classroom. Everything that happens in the classroom is between the teacher and the students within the confine of the physical boundary of the classroom. By and large, I can assure you, it is just 50 minutes talk and talk and talk and…Try to follow one course on Cousera and feel the difference! If only we can see MOOC in positive light as a mean to transform our practice, not to replace but to complement the face-to-face, i.e, blended learning. Don't be too quick to jump on the bandwagon of the sceptics if we have not seen and experience the MOOCs — not just jumping at any opportunity to ridicule it!

One great advantage of taking our course out of the secret garden and put it on MOOCs platform is the opportunity to get continuous feedback from students and peers in the same subject matter. If the same process of peer review has long been used for publication in peer-reviewed journal to ensure quality, why can’t we use the same process to gauge the quality of our course? I have personally received hundreds of email (feedback) from people around the world on my YouTube lecture videos although they are scattered and not yet structured into a coherent package (as a course). I have even received a chocolate from someone in Vienna as a token of appreciation! I’m sure the MOOC professors have great stories to share too.

A surprise gift (chocolate) sent to me from Vienna as a token of appreciation.

I salute the MOOC practitioners — they are the trail blazers! They come out from their comfort zone and dare to take the challenge of reaching out global learners beyond the boundary of their classroom rather than just continuing doing business as usual — just another sage on the stage in their own secret garden. MOOCs may not be the unique saviour of the education system but it doesn’t mean the MOOC phenomenon will just die. Failures are to be expected, not celebrated!

MOOCS, ROI and Business Models

Eventually, even with all the good intention of MOOCs, someone will ask, can universities or any MOOCs providers make money out of MOOCs? What is the return of investment (ROI)? This ROI thing is inevitably always a favorite and persistent question especially from administrators and skeptics. That's a fair question, of course.

The original intention of MOOCs is to provide free access to education but if educational organisation or any providers want to generate revenue from MOOCs there may be several business models that can be adopted. Prospective MOOCs providers may opt one of these models:
• Government funding for developing and running MOOCs
• Payment for complementary services
• Certification

Cousera, one of the popular MOOCs provider, uses the certification model. For example, currently I’m taking a course offered by Duke University. If I follow the course until the 8th week, do all the assignments and participate actively in the forum I will be awarded the Certificate of Accomplishment. I have also the option to take the examination by paying a nominal fee of USD39.00 and if I passed I will be awarded the Verified Certificate.

For further exploration of MOOC business models see Money Models for MOOCs by Chrysanthos Dellarocas, Marshall Van Alstyne.

Actually there are many platforms available if we want to make money by conducting academic or vocational courses. One of my favorites is Udemy — anyone can offer a course on Udemy, for free or for a fee. Last year Udemy reported a few instructors made a few hundred thousand dollars. I conduct one course on this platform for free. Not that many students, only 354. Hardly qualify for MOOCs but who cares, it's all about reaching learners outside the physical boundary of the university. That's what we call the scholarship of teaching and learning in real sense—sharing and disseminating knowledge. Have a look at my course on Udemy.

Money matters aside, let me put the ROI in a different light. I would say the immediate ROI would be learning itself, also the benefit of collaboration and networking. And if we talk about POSITIONING and VISIBILITY, what a better and convenient way to do it by having our courses (preferably our niches) freely accessible by the masses. Is that not enough ROI?

There is another form of ROI — the improvement in the quality of online course in the form of structure and delivery. This can happen in two ways: better course design and continuous students and peer feedback. Professors or instructors who embark on MOOCs will inevitably be more concious of how they would conduct the course because it will be seen by not only a few thousand students enrolled in the course but also educators in the same subject matter. They must ensure they get the facts right, explain the concept clearly and design the course structure in the best possible way to increase clarity and understanding. The reputation of the professor and the institution is at stake. It has been reported, on average, it takes between 6 to 9 months of preparation to design a course suitable for MOOCs format. This include preparation of the video, assignment and learning activities. As for the feedback I have already elaborated above.

Back to positioning and visibility, let me share my own personal experience (note: please don’t misconstrued this as boasting). I have about 80 pieces of recorded video lectures on YouTube. Just search 'karim' and 'usm' on YouTube and you will find some of those videos. The top video (almost 40,000 views from more than 50 countries) was my 20 minutes presentation on the production of palm oil. The total estimated duration watched is 79,401 minutes (approx 1,323 hours). Well, I leave it to your imagination to estimate the ROI in terms of learning!

MOOCs — My Own Personal Experience

My experience with MOOCs is limited to a few courses I enrolled on Cousera platform. Cousera offers 621 courses on its platform. You can find a range of technical and non-technical courses offered by 108 Coursera partners. After signed up, you can search or browse the course offerings categorized by subject matter such as business, agriculture, etc.

I enrolled in my first MOOCs last year (2013), a course entitled ‘Foundation of Teaching for Learning, Part 1’ conducted by Commonwealth Education Trust and offered on Cousera platform. I always yearn to learn more about the proper pedagogical approach because I don’t have a formal training in education and because of my ever burning desire to improve students’ learning. Unfortunately, I didn’t complete the course due to my hectic work schedule (excuses) and unwittingly contributed to the statistics of 90% attrition rate. I missed the second and third part but I enroll again and currently following the fourth part of the course.

I also enrolled in another course on Cousera, ‘Think Again: How to Reason and Argue’, offered by Duke University. This course is very well designed and structured.

What’s more interesting is this course is part of 3-course package namely, reasoning, data analysis and writing. For a nominal fee, Cousera offers the students to earn the Specialization Certificate by completing the so-called Signature Track for all 3 courses and the Capstone project. (Note: Learn more about Signature Track).

Basically students are required to watch a series of recorded lectures and take quizzes or similar activities to demonstrate their understanding of the material. Students may also be encouraged to participate in discussion forums or engage in interactive online activities, depending on the subject matter, but these activities are not compulsory. There is very little or almost no direct interaction with the instructor or professor. It is essentially self-paced, independent study but with opportunity to get help and feedback from fellow students.

So is it effective to learn this way? Well, as I have said earlier, people will learn if they are MOTIVATED to learn. Of course, good course design and delivery would help to motivate students and keep their interest in the course to wanting to learn more. There is a nice feeling in MOOCs that you are part of the big learning community. Imagine in the course ‘Think again…’ there are 50,000 students and even if just a quarter of them actively participate in the forum you can imagine the amount of exchanges and flow of ideas that sometimes can make you feel overwhelmed. The main reason I’m still following the course is simply my strong interest in the topic, and perhaps the only reason I’m compelled and determined to complete this course. The rest — the course design, the dynamic delivery, etc., are just the icing on the cake.

I would advise those new to MOOCs to read experiences of other MOOC students or alumni. This article (http://bit.ly/MkQmov), aptly titled “How to Survive MOOC in 5 Easy Steps” is a good place to start.

Closing Remarks

I don’t believe MOOCs have failed. They may not satisfy the ambitious and exaggerated claims of their pioneers, but they are already enhancing education for thousands of students around the globe. My limited MOOCs experience is sufficient to convince me that we should support it despite its pitfalls in the current form of implementation. Educators should grab the opportunity to open the secret garden and step out from their classroom for the benefit of the learning society.

Learn More about OER and MOOCs

My friend, Zaid Ali Alsagoff (see 'Top e-Learning Mover & Shaker' in the World!) has published excellent presentations on MOOCs on Slideshare. Have a look.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

In no time? Well, that's exaggeration...but really, there are so many tools now available to educators to do useful things with very little learning curve. Currently there are several web-based tools that allow anyone to build any topic of interest -- Scoop.it!, Pinterest, etc. These tools can be use for aggregating or curating content. The new kids-on-the block are Edcanvas & Storify.

I particularly like Storify. It's so easy to use -- no brainer! Storify has two parts -- the blank canvas on the left hand side and the search tools on the right hand side. There is Google search to search the web, You Tube, Flickr, or other social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SoundCloud, etc. Basically you start with a blank canvas. Just search using the various built-in search tools, pick the relevant item, and drag it to the main area on the left. As its name implies, Storify allows you to build a 'story', basically a compilation of articles from the huge internet repository and arrange them in a logical sequence to make up...a story.

As I was exploring Storify, I begin to realize the huge potential of this tool for teaching & learning. Also, if you are seriously into content curation, this is one tool, amongst the crowd out there that I would highly recommend you to explore. I can't say more here but to illustrate perhaps I can share with you my Storify for your perusal.

The first one is one of the actual topic in the course I'll be teaching next coming semester (start in September). Here I aggregate the content from various sources, including my own, and arrange them in a logical sequence. Then, you will notice that in between the content I inserted an activity or task for the reader (in this case, mainly for my students). You can build the content as a modular unit, perhaps equivalent to 1 hour lecture or one specific part in a big topic. The activity/task can be arranged in such a way to follow certain pedagogical model, such as Gagne's 9 Events of Instruction. You can use this as a platform for the Flipped Classroom -- i.e., you can ask the students to read the material prior to the lecture but do the activity together in the classroom.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Hi folks! Here's an exciting FREE new iPad app, Flowboard -- similar to Tactilize but the biggest advantage is you can have multiple 'screens' (or slides in PPT lingo, cards in Tactilize). Screen can be linked non-linearly. The same can be done for any object on the screen. You can use Flowboard to prepare a presentation on the iPad. Just flip to move to the next screen. With creativity you can use this app in many ways. For example, I use Flowboard to prepare a Glossary. This is then linked to my Storify. A unique combination of tools to produce learning content. Have a look.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

I have benefited a lot from following people on Twitter. Recently I spotted a twit by Robin Good on using Movenote and present.me to produce a quick and simple screencasting. I followed the link to his Scoop.it! page. I watched his sample presentation and I thought, ah...I can try this! Both Movenote and present.me are free, very easy to use and the quality is reasonably good (but judge for yourself). Both programs have limited features compared to the more established Screen-O-Matic but I guess it's quite sufficient. I would add these to my selection of free screencasting program to present my PowerPoint or Keynote.

I have been using mostly Screenr for screencasting and recently I use Screen-O-Matic (for longer screencast up to 15 min). Unlike Screenr, though, Screen-O-Matic and Movenote allow you to capture your face using a webcam. I'm not particularly camera shy, so I thought maybe better to include a talking head in my presentation. Movenote tagline is “Presentation with emotion”. The website is neat and simple with very minimum information. For some reasons even the sign up link is not very evident. Movenote approach in screencasting is different from Screenr and Screen-O-Matic in that you have to upload the file to be presented in the screencast to the cloud (Movenote server). In this respect Movenote is not very flexible in terms of capturing anything on the screen.

Here's my first testing with Movenote (Example 1 above). I uploaded only one PowerPoint (2010) slide for this test. The slide contain 2 animations. Movenote convert it to image but somehow the animated objects (picture) messed up. In the second test, I converted the PPT slide to pdf and that solved the problem. For this test, I used my Samson COU3 USB microphone and MacBook Pro. Movenote placed the 'talking head' on the left hand side of the slide. No option to re-position it. On the other hand, Screen-O-Matic overlay the 'talking head' on the slide itself, thus cover part of the slide. I wish there was an option to re-position it. The bottom line is, for a simple and quick screencast of your lecture Movenote is quite useful. The output is also looks quite good

Present.me is also very simple to use but I think need some improvement. The quality of the 'talking head' is not as good as Movenote. As of this writing (November 2011) present.me is still in beta stage. Like Movenote, present.me is designed mainly for presenting documents such as pdf or PowerPoint presentation. The free basic account allows up to 15 minutes recording and up to 10 recordings/month (50 MB per upload). If you want to capture animation and transition in your PowerPoint presentation you have to sign up for the Plus account (not free). You can capture the presenter with the webcam. I notice, however, the quality of the talking head is not as good as Movenote or Screen-O-Matic.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

This morning I gave a talk, "Getting Your Manuscript Published: What Reviewers and Editors Want?" to a group of 40 graduate students. The talk was organized by the Institute of Postgraduate Studies (IPS), Universiti Sains Malaysia as part of the Professional and Personal Development Programme. The programme aims to increase students’ knowledge, soft skills, ability and credibility in order to develop them to compete and progress both academically and in the future workplace. This talk is actually the fourth one this month on a theme of writing scientific publication (my previous talks can be found in my previous article).

Briefly, I covered these topics:

Duties of editors, reviewers, and authors

What is “peer review” and its brief history

Objectives & process of peer review

What editors & reviewers are looking for?

Surviving the peer review process

The presentation can be viewed and download from Slideshare (link below).

Monday, August 22, 2011

As promised, I have uploaded the second part of my presentation on the theme of publishing scientific paper. The first was posted in my earlier article (here). The title of the second presentation is "How to Write a World Class Paper". Yes, writing a paper that reports novel idea that would advance the frontier of knowledge. A well written article cannot make up for poor research whereas a badly written article can diminish good research! The rule of thumb is actually quite simple: clarity and brevity. Watch the presentation to learn more...

Note of acknowledgement: The content of this presentation was modified and ‘repackaged’ from the original presentation by Wendy Hurp (Elsevier). I would like to acknowledge and thank Wendy for giving the permission to share the material with the world.
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Thursday, August 18, 2011

Publish or perish OR publish and flourish? Getting your paper published especially in the premier/reputable journals is not an easy task. Most of the so-called high ranking international journals have more than 50% rejection rate. There's always something new to learn everyday about scientific writing. Resources to help authors to write and communicate their research in a presentable or publishable from are always available. For example, American Chemical Society (ACS) Publications has launched the Publishing Your Research 101 video series to assist authors and reviewers in understanding and improving their experience with the processes of writing, submitting, editing, and reviewing manuscripts.

The first episode in the series is an interview with Professor George M. Whitesides from Harvard University who has published nearly 600 papers with ACS Publications, and over 1100 articles overall, and has served on the advisory boards of numerous peer-reviewed journals. When asked how many drafts each paper undergo before submission, he said typically 15 drafts!

I enjoyed watching all the videos (ehem...on my beloved iPad). The videos are very informative and especially useful for budding researcher. Even experienced researchers would benefit and can learn one or two things. Supervisors should encourage their students to watch all the videos. Check out also another website on English Communication for Scientists.

I was invited recently by the School of Physics (Universiti Sains Malaysia) to give a talk on strategies to publish scientific paper in peer-reviewed journals (the focus was on indexed international journals). It was well attended by graduate students and a number of academic staff. The talk was given in two parts—in the first part I emphasized on the reasons why scientists or researchers must publish their work in indexed journals to disseminate their findings to a wider audience. I hope I have managed to convince the audience (particularly graduate students) the importance of writing and publishing good, quality paper. The second part of the talk focused on strategies, tips, and 'tricks of the trade' of getting the paper (manuscript) accepted by the Chief Editor.

If I may summarize very briefly, writing a scientific paper is always very challenging—it's not an easy task, even for experienced scientist. However, I have made it very clear (hopefully) that writing a paper is part and parcel of a research process. Therefore, we can only write a good, publishable paper if we begin with good research. What constitute 'good research'? This is a topic that need further elaboration itself, but in a nutshell — novelty, well-designed with proper sampling and control (control sample or controlled environment), well-executed and validated. There's much more but perhaps I will give another talk just on this topic.

I would like to thank the audience again (if you are reading this article) for listening intently to my presentation and for actively taking part in the discussion.

You will find below the link to the first part of the talk. The second part will be uploaded soon. I have uploaded the presentation to YouTube, Vimeo, Slideshare, and Screenr. See which you is faster to access.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

This is the first article I write on my beloved iPad 2. I hope in the next article I can write about iPad 2 and how educators can leverage on its awesome features. I bought this amazing thingy on the day it was launched but I had to wait for another 2 weeks because it was out of stock (I came in the afternoon). Although Apple would not pay me any commission or offer any discount, I have to confess that this is simply the best buy of the year, worth every single penny! This iPad 2 has exceeded my expectation and now I can say that its value is worth more than what I have paid. Well, I hope to share with you soon 10 reasons why educators should get an iPad 2. Watch out!

For now, I would like to share what I was reading (of course, on my iPad) recently. Here I would like to share a page on Science website about scientific presentation skill. On this webpage you will find many useful links on various topics on presentation skill. This is one area where all educators and scientists should try to improve because communicating science requires not only deep knowledge of the subject (content knowledge) but also the skill to deliver it in a clear and engaging manner.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Recently I was invited by Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) as a panelist in a forum that discussed about the impact of curriculum on graduate employability. One participant (a student) raised the issue about the relevance of curriculum with the actual demand of the job market, i.e., whether what they learn in three or four years curriculum is adequate to prepare them for the real job. Another participant (a teacher counselor) also echoed the same concern of their students, especially at a point when the students are deciding which programme to take at the degree level. For example, if a student take a programme in Forensic Science, would he/she end up working as a forensic personnel?

I think in some professional courses such as medicine, pharmacy, law and perhaps engineering, it is reasonable to expect that the graduates would end up as medical doctors, pharmacists, lawyers and engineers because there is always a great demand for them in the government (public) and private sectors. Unfortunately the situation is different for other disciplines. So if a student has a degree in Chemistry, he/she might not end up working as a chemist but perhaps as an officer in public administration. What's wrong with this? Well, they might say that they are not trained to do administration because they were trained to become a chemist -- so what they have learned is wasted. I think this is a challenge for educators to make our students understand and appreciate the fact that whatever they have learned in their degree will become part of their knowledge, perhaps in this case, a specialized knowledge in chemistry. We have to educate our students to have a larger sense of purpose when come to education, that is to think of the tertiary education as a platform, or as a stepping stone, or as a launchpad for them to explore the 'real world' outside the comfort boundary of the ivory tower.

According to Alvin Toffler, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn”. In this regard, curriculum in any degree programme should be designed in such a manner that our graduate is equipped with various learning and thinking skills to make them more VERSATILE, FLEXIBLE, RESOURCEFUL, and ADAPTABLE. When our graduates posses these skills then they will be able to learn new skills and adapt readily to new environment. I cannot emphasize more the need that the innovative teaching approaches be integrated with appropriate student-centered learning environment so that the skill of "learn how to learn" can be imparted more effectively. Cognitive research on learning suggests that "how people learn is more important than what people learn in the achievement of successful learning" (OECD 2001, page 20).

We should take cognizant that we are living through a period of dynamic transformation in all aspects of our lives and this transformation is catalyzed by a profound change of economic model and rapid advancement in technology. We have seen the world moving from a resource-based (agricultural) economy to industrial economy (much dependent on labour and natural resources such as coal) and now rapidly into a so-called knowledge-based economy, in which knowledge is the key resource.

Knowledge economy has been defined as:
...one in which the generation and the exploitation of knowledge has come to play the predominant part in the creation of wealth. It is not simply about pushing back the frontiers of knowledge; it is also about the more effective use of all types of knowledge in all manner of economic activity.
The knowledge economy increasing relies on the diffusion and the use of knowledge, as well as its creation. Hence the success of enterprises, and of national economies as a whole, will become more reliant upon their effectiveness in gathering, absorbing and utilizing knowledge, as well as in its creation (Houghton and Sheehan, 2000).

It is obvious that the emergence of the global knowledge economy present new challenges and inevitably will bring about a great impact on our education system. Furthermore, the application of knowledge is all aspects of the economy is being greatly facilitated by the rapid advancement in information, computing and communication (ICT) technologies. Therefore, it is imperative that the transformation in economic model and unprecedented pace in knowledge generation/dissemination be aligned to a similar transformation in education...but how do we go about it? What does our national education system need to do in response to knowledge-based growth? What can educators do to meet the challenge. Do we have to wait for some new policies in place or can we start something on our own initiative to bring transformation into our own practices in teaching and learning environment?

To deal with the new demands and challenges of knowledge economy, lifelong learning has been suggested as a new model to prepare human capital (in most literature the term 'skilled workers' is commonly used) to compete in the global economy.

"A lifelong learning framework encompasses learning throughout the lifecycle, from early childhood through retirement. It encompasses formal learning (schools, training institutions, universities); nonformal learning (structured on-the-job training); and informal learning (skills learned from family members or people in the community). It allows people to access learning opportunities as they need them rather than because they have reached a certain age. (The World Bank Report, 2003).

The next question is, how do we incorporate lifelong learning model into our existing educational framework? It is obvious that our educational systems can no longer emphasis task-specific skills but must focus instead on developing learners' decision-making and problem-solving skills and teaching them how to learn on their own and with others (The World Bank Report, 2003). Achieving these goals requires a fundamental change in the way learning takes place and the relationship between learner and teacher. Our graduates need to be equipped with the essential skills and competencies they need to succeed in knowledge economy era. These skills include mastery of technical, interpersonal, and methodological skills. Technical skills include literacy, foreign language, math, science, problem-solving, and analytical skills. Interpersonal skills include teamwork, leadership, and communication skills. Methodological skills include ability to learn on one's own, to pursue lifelong learning, and to cope with risk and change.

I believe that a systemic (thorough) reform of our education system is urgently needed. Education reform or transformation actually has been a recurrent theme not only in Malaysia but globally. So what are we doing about it and where are we heading? Yes, we have a seemingly comprehensive National Higher Education Action Plan (2007-2010). Here I cite some statements (verbatim) from the document with respect to teaching and learning:

"We must produce confident students with a sense of balance and proportion. While an individual may specialize in a certain area, his or her perspective should be enriched by other experiences as well. The Ministry of Higher Education will thus introduce a holistic programme that will cut across all disciplines and focus on communication and entrepreneurial skills. The programme, which is intended to build a balanced perspective in all students, will expose them to subjects beyond their area of specialisation. For example, students reading for degrees in the sciences such as medicine, engineering and chemistry will be exposed to courses covering literature and philosophy. Likewise, students in the humanities will be exposed to the rudiments of science and technology, and certainly, ICT."

"Dynamic and relevant curriculum and pedagogy are needed to ensure the health and strength of an institution. Inter-disciplinary approaches to the design of higher education curricula will build and stimulate creativity, innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship. Curricula must also equip undergraduates with appropriate skills to enable them to compete in an ever-changing market. Curricula must be reviewed, and courses that are no longer relevant must be removed. Peer review and industry collaboration must be enhanced in curricula development and evaluation".

Reading through the whole document giving me the impression that our educational reform is very much in line with the lifelong learning model proposed in the World Bank Report. In fact, lifelong learning was specifically mentioned (National Higher Education Action Plan [2007-2010], page 39) and has been identified as one of the Critical Agenda Projects (CAP). Other CAPs directly related to teaching and learning are "Teaching and Learning" and "E-learning". I want to be optimistic about the successful implementation of the Action Plan but having seen the detail of how the various CAPs are being managed and executed...I have my doubt. But again, I always believe that we don't really have to wait for the policy or strategic plan to come in place. The initiative can be taken by parties at different levels -- institution, faculty/department, and individual (educators).